List of episodes[edit]

"The Day of the Doctor" features the return of the Zygons for the first time since Terror of the Zygons in 1975. "The Time of the Doctor" draws together a number of plot threads that have run through the series since the Eleventh Doctor's first episode in 2010.

The Eleventh Doctor and Clara are called in by UNIT to investigate mysterious three-dimensional paintings, including one depicting the Time War of Gallifrey. In the war, the War Doctor, a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor, plans to use an ancient weapon called "The Moment" to end the ongoing war between Time Lords and Daleks. The Moment, knowing the disasters its use will cause, shows the War Doctor how its use will affect him by uniting him with the Eleventh Doctor, as well as the Tenth Doctor. Together, the three Doctors are able to end a Zygon invasion by enacting peace between Zygons and humans. Though the Doctors still contemplate using the Moment anyway, Clara convinces them to try another way to end the war. Uniting with all their previous and future incarnations, the Doctors use their TARDISes to trap Gallifrey in a pocket universe. In the aftermath, the War and Tenth Doctors return to their own times, with the War Doctor regenerating into the Ninth Doctor, and the Eleventh Doctor is told by a mysterious curator resembling the Fourth Doctor that it is his mission to find Gallifrey, which the Doctor vows to do.

A message echoing through all of time and space emanates from the farming town of Christmas on the planet Trenzalore, where a prophecy states the Doctor will spend the last of his years. With the help of the Papal Mainframe, the Doctor and Clara travel to the village and discover that the message is being sent from Gallifrey by the Time Lords. Sending Clara home, he proceeds to spend thousands of years fighting and defending Trenzalore against hordes of aliens determined to prevent the Time Lords from returning. Clara returns to find the Daleks are the last remaining aliens, and that the Doctor has fought for so long, with no more regenerations, that he is on the cusp of dying of old age. As the Doctor faces his last stand, Clara convinces the Time Lords to give the Doctor a new regeneration cycle. The Doctor begins to regenerate, destroying the Daleks and ending the war. Clara returns to the TARDIS to find a rejuvenated Doctor about to finish his regeneration. After vowing to remember the incarnation he was and hallucinating a final goodbye to Amy Pond, the Doctor finally regenerates into a new incarnation, as the TARDIS suddenly begins crashing.

On 1 June 2013, Matt Smith announced that he would be leaving Doctor Who, with his final episode being the 2013 Christmas Special,[12] with that episode set to feature the Doctor's latest regeneration. Speculation about the identity of the actor set to take over began immediately, with a number of names suggested.[13] The official announcement of the actor of the Twelfth Doctor was made in a special live simulcast on 4 August 2013 in Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor, and saw confirmation of Peter Capaldi in the role.[14][15] The 2013 special is the fourth and final Christmas episode to feature Matt Smith's incarnation of the Doctor, and the second to feature Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald.

Production[edit]

Writing and development[edit]

Both David Tennant and Billie Piper returned to appear in the 50th anniversary special

Showrunner Steven Moffat began writing the script for "The Day of the Doctor" in late 2012, announcing that, as a security precaution, he had not produced any copies, instead keeping it on his computer until it was needed.[16]

Moffat has stated that the Christmas episode is intended to tie together the remaining story strands from the Eleventh Doctor era, some of which were introduced as far back as "The Eleventh Hour".

The (Christmas) special ties up stuff from all corners of Matt's tenure – there are things I set in motion in Matt's very first episode that I'm paying off now. It's been a long game, but most of the questions that people ask will be answered…[17]

In September 2013, it was revealed that the Cybermen would feature in the Christmas episode, when one of the show's regular stunt artists, Darrelle 'Daz' Parker, tweeted that she would playing a Cyberman. This would make it the third time that the Cybermen have appeared in a regeneration story, following The Tenth Planet in 1966, and a brief appearance in The War Games in 1969.[18]

Filming[edit]

Paul McGann made his first on screen appearance as the Doctor since 1996

Filming of "The Day of the Doctor" began at the beginning of April, with David Tennant, Billie Piper, John Hurt and Joanna Page seen at a location outside Neath in South Wales.[19] On 9 April filming took place involving Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman in Trafalgar Square in London.[20][21] Various other locations included Chepstow (with some filming done inside the castle),[22] and Cardiff – scenes shot in Cardiff are intended to represent both Totter's Lane and Coal Hill School.[23] Shooting wrapped on 5 May 2013.[24] The final two days of production were taken with shooting the special mini-episode, "The Night of the Doctor", which featured Paul McGann returning to the role of the Eighth Doctor for the first time since 1996.[25]

At the 2013 Comic-Con, Matt Smith confirmed that production of the Christmas episode would begin in September, once his work on How to Catch a Monster was complete.[26] Filming for "The Time of the Doctor" began on 8 September. On 10 September, Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman were seen filming on location at Lydstep Flats in Cardiff, which have previously been used in Series 1 and 2 as the Powell Estate where Rose Tyler lived with her mother Jackie. On 19 September 2013, scenes were filmed in the evening at Puzzlewood with fake snow being scattered over certain areas. On 5 October 2013, Doctor Who producer Marcus Wilson revealed via Twitter that filming was complete.[27][28]

50th Anniversary[edit]

Television[edit]

An Adventure in Space and Time[edit]

In addition to the 50th anniversary episode featuring Matt Smith and David Tennant, a further special was produced to celebrate Doctor Who's half-century. An Adventure in Space and Time, written by Mark Gatiss, was a feature-length docudrama detailing the conception and initial production of Doctor Who. It featured David Bradley as William Hartnell and Reece Shearsmith as Patrick Troughton; Matt Smith has a cameo as himself in his Eleventh Doctor costume.

Other television productions[edit]

"The Day of the Doctor" formed the centerpiece of the celebrations, which encompassed programmes across all of the BBC's platforms, including An Adventure in Space and Time, a Culture Show special entitled "Me, You and Doctor Who" presented by Matthew Sweet that explores the wider cultural significance of the show.[31]CBBC broadcast a show called "12 Again" in which past and present stars of the show recounted their memories, Professor Brian Cox delivered a televised lecture on the science of Doctor Who, and BBC Three had a weekend devoted to Monsters and Villains, as well as showing "Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide".[32] The BBC also announced plans to show a newly restored print of the first serial An Unearthly Child.[33] The announcement of the title was also followed by the release of the first official poster for the special.[34][35]

UKTV's Watch showed a story from each doctor to celebrate the 50th anniversary, based around the broadcast of the eleven part BBC America series, The Doctors Revisited. This series has one episode dedicated to each incarnation of the Doctor, and was broadcast monthly alongside an omnibus edition of a serial of each Doctor. Watch is broadcasting two episodes per weekend, starting on 12 October.[36][37]

The British Film Institute ran a year long celebration of the 50th anniversary with monthly screenings of stories from each Doctor, culminating in November with screenings of both "The Day of the Doctor" and An Adventure in Space and Time.[38][39]

Radio[edit]

BBC Radio 2 broadcast a number of new programmes commemorating the show, including a 90-minute documentary called "Who is the Doctor?"; "The Blagger's Guide to Doctor Who" hosted by David Quantick and Graham Norton's live Saturday show was broadcast from the Doctor Who Celebration event at the ExCel. BBC Radio 1 looked at the phenomenon of "Time Lord Rock", a musical style derived from the music of the show, while BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast a three-hour special called "Who Made Who", which discussed the world that inspired the show.[32]